The former Supernatural star, who starred in Walker for four seasons, has been tapped for a three-episode guest role in the upcoming third season of CBS's hit drama series Fire Country, starring and executive produced by Max Thieriot.
Padalecki (pictured) will play Camden, a SoCal firefighter and maverick with a surfer swagger who is a force to be reckoned with and immediately recognizes Bode’s (Thieriot) raw talent.
The deal with Fire Country producer CBS Studios is strictly for the recurring role, sources said. Given Padalecki’s status as a popular leading man with two successful series under his belt, there’s a possibility the guest role could lead to a new spinoff starring him, tying into the upcoming Sheriff Country .
Sources stress that the idea is still in its early stages. And like the NCIS franchise, which originated on CBS and has spawned four domestic spinoffs on the network but also expanded to streaming with its latest spinoff, NCIS: Tony & Ziva (as well as the streaming/broadcast NCIS: Sydney), a new Fire Country spinoff could be for broadcast or streaming. Representatives for CBS and CBS Studios declined to comment.
Fire Country, which was the most-watched new series on television in its first season, was quickly identified by CBS executives as a potential franchise that could spawn multiple spinoffs.
“We are focused on mass-appeal franchises,” CBS president and CEO George Cheeks said in June 2023. “This season’s number one show was Fire Country, which completely lends itself to building out a whole new universe… It became very clear that not only was the show special, it really felt like this could be a great example of us building together a franchise from scratch.”
The first Fire Country spinoff, Sheriff Country starring Morena Baccarin, which began as a planned spinoff episode of the parent series last season, was recently picked up to series for 2025-26. Keeping Padalecki in the fold is a priority for CBS Studios following the end of the CW drama Walker, in which he starred and served as executive producer, leading to the creation of the opportunity for him on Fire Country. Walker was canceled for financial reasons, despite being the network’s most-watched series.
Fire Country averages over 10 million viewers per episode across multiple platforms (Live+35 days on Paramount+ and CBS TVE).
The first season debuted on Netflix in the U.S. on August 1 and is already #3 on the streamer’s daily rankings. This is an additional domestic streaming window for Fire Country, which debuted its first two seasons on Paramount+. It’s designed to give the series extra exposure ahead of the launch of season three on CBS on Friday, October 18.
The series, from creators and executive producers Tony Phelan, Joan Rater, and Thieriot, is inspired by Thieriot’s experiences growing up in Northern California. The series follows Bode Donovan (Thieriot), a young convict who seeks redemption and a shortened prison sentence by enrolling in a firefighting program in Northern California, which sends him back to his hometown.
Billy Burke, Kevin Alejandro, Diane Farr, Stephanie Arcila, Jordan Calloway and Jules Latimer also star. Tia Napolitano, who also serves as showrunner, is producing with Jerry Bruckheimer and KristieAnne Reed of Jerry Bruckheimer Television.
Since Walker ended, Padalecki has also discussed a role in the upcoming fifth and final season of Prime Video's The Boys, developed and executive produced by Supernatural creator Eric Kripke.